The Tryout and The Squad by Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao

 

During the second half of Thanksgiving Break, I read The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao and its sequel, The Squad. These graphic memoirs are about Christina's middle school years when she tried out for her grade level's cheerleading squad with her best friend, Megan. In The Tryout, Christina has been friends with Megan ever since she moved from Dallas, Texas to the small town of Grangeview in third grade. Although they are two of the only kids of color at Venable Middle School, they desire to fit in and be accepted by their peers, which is especially tough when they face everyday racism. When the time for cheerleading tryouts comes in November, they eagerly sign up. The process is terrifying, though, and during the final round, they have to perform in front of the entire seventh grade, who will vote on the eight girls that should make the squad for the next year. With so much pressure, Christina doesn't know if her friendship with Megan will survive the competition. In The Squad, Christina has hit her stride by the second semester of eighth grade. Her best friend is still Megan, but she has also befriended Leanne, one of the other girls who tried out for cheerleading the previous year. Although it won't be easy and there's the possibility that they won't make the ninth grade squad, they decide to once again go through the process of cheerleading tryouts. Adding to Christina's stress, she learns that her parents' marriage is falling apart. As she tries to hold it together, she wonders if she can make her cheerleading dreams come true.

I absolutely adored this series of graphic memoirs. Although I never actually became a cheerleader when I was in school, I always had respect for the talent and skill that it takes to be one, especially because I was a gymnast, like Christina's best friend, Megan, and participated in a few cheer camps/clinics before I decided to completely focus on gymnastics. I thought both Christina and Megan were relatable as they tried to find a place to belong in middle school. I also loved learning about Christina's school experiences because I enjoyed her books, A Wish in the Dark and All Thirteen. It was cool discovering what her interests were and how she was inspired to become an author. Towards the end of The Tryout, she participates in an impromptu speech competition and I could tell she had a gift for storytelling, even at such a young age. I also thought it was adorable how she had her first crush in The Squad. While some parts of this series were funny, there were emotional moments, as well. I really felt for Christina when her classmates would say racist things to her, especially Tobin, and her parents divorced. It definitely made me feel bad when teachers couldn't say her last name either because when you break it up into parts, it really isn't that hard to say. I definitely wanted to give her a hug more than once. While both books are amazing, I actually thought The Squad was just a little bit stronger. If you like friendship stories and cheerleading, you should check this series out!

A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat

 

Before winter break, I finished reading A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat. This Thai-inspired fantasy takes place in Chattana, a city where all the light comes from one man, the Governor, who appeared after the Great Fire to rebuild the city. The story is about Pong, a boy who escapes Namwon Prison by hiding in a trash basket and ending up in Tanaburi, a small town south of Chattana. After he meets an old monk, Father Cham, while stealing food from a temple, he spends the next few years hiding among the monks. When Nok, the prison warden's perfect daughter, chases him into the river during her family's visit to the temple, he grabs the rope of a barge heading north to Chattana instead of south to the sea. Although her parents want her to stay and go to the school near the temple, Nok decides go back to the city and hunt Pong to bring honor back to her family. As Pong learns that the outside world is just as unfair as the prison and tries to come up with a plan to escape the city for good, Nok discovers secrets about her own life that make her question everything she has always believed. With a march being planned in the city to protest against the Governor, Pong and Nok must decide if they should stand up for what's right and bring light to the injustice in Chattana.

This book was so enchanting and beautiful. When I learned that it was inspired by Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, I was deeply intrigued by the book's premise because Les Miserables is one of my favorite musicals. I also loved how the author used inspiration from Thailand because the world-building was fantastic and made Chattana feel like a real place. The description of a city with colored light orbs was gorgeous, but I thought it was interesting how that beauty hid the injustice of poverty and privilege. Additionally, I liked the main characters, Pong and Nok. When Pong is discouraged after meeting the Governor in person at the beginning of the story, I understood why he wanted to leave the city and never come back, but at his core, he is someone who will always fight for what right, so I was very satisfied with his journey. On the other hand, I admired Nok's determination no matter what her goal is and her growth was just as rewarding. From the start, I thought that they would be great friends if they weren't enemies and hoped that they would both be brave enough do the right thing. With that in mind, I enjoyed the climax of the story when everything finally came together. A perfect combination of fantasy and realistic issues, anyone should read this book.

Winter Break Reading

 

The first book I read over winter break was All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat. This nonfiction book is about twelve members of Wild Boars soccer team and their coach who got trapped by rising floodwaters in the Tham Luang cave system in northern Thailand when they went exploring after practice on June 23, 2018 and it started raining. They had no food to eat and could only drink the water that dripped down from the walls. When news of the missing team spread, thousands of rescuers came from all around the world to locate the team and come up with a plan to bring all thirteen out of the cave before the heavy rains of the monsoon season.

This book was thrilling from start to finish. Even though I knew that the rescue mission was a success, I wasn't aware of all the details, making the account quite suspenseful. There were several times that the mission could have failed, but somehow everyone involved was able to work together against the odds to rescue the twelve players and their coach. It was amazing reading about how they made the impossible possible, and I especially found it fascinating how they were able to divert the water to slow down the flow of water in the cave. Anyone who loves action and adventure should read this true story.

After I finished All Thirteen, I read Katie the Catsitter by Colleen AF Venable and Stephanie Yu. This graphic novel is about Katie, a girl who is trying to earn enough money to spend a week at summer camp with her best friend, Bethany. During the last week of school before the summer, Katie first tries carrying an elderly man's groceries to his apartment. When that doesn't work out, she gets a job watering a neighbor's plants while she is away for a few days with her young children. Unfortunately, that also doesn't go well. After school ends for the summer, she then goes around her apartment building looking for cleaning jobs, but it turns out that job isn't right for her either. Just when Katie is sure going to camp is a lost cause, her neighbor, Madeline, asks her to catsit her 217 cats. At first, Katie thinks this job will be easy, but it turns out the cats aren't exactly normal. She sticks with the job, though, because it's good money and the cats always makes sure that the apartment is spotless just before Madeline returns. As the summer goes on, Madeline always seems to be out when the Mousetress commits crimes, leading Katie to wonder if Madeline is really the city's most famous super villain.

As a cat person, Katie the Catsitter was one of the Rebecca Caudill-nominated books I was looking most forward to reading this year and it truly was a joy to read. At the beginning, I felt bad that Katie couldn't go to camp with Bethany, but then she started catsitting for Madeline and those scenes were the highlight of the book for me. I thought it was so cool that the cats had special skills and couldn't help but laugh when the cats would start misbehaving as soon as Madeline left. Even though the job was challenging for Katie at first, she began building relationships with Madeline's cats by learning their names, playing with them, and buying them new toys. What I thought was most interesting about the story is that when Katie starts to suspect Madeline is the Mousetress, she also questions if the super villain is really evil because her crimes are against those who harm animals. Finally, the end of the book was so suspenseful when Madeline didn't return home at exactly midnight and Katie and the cats had to come up with a plan to save her. I would recommend this book to all cat lovers and anyone who enjoys comics about superheroes.

Additionally, I read Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson for the second time and my review of that book can be found here.